JP2012089176A - Juncture determination device, traffic signal control system, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a juncture determination device, a traffic signal control system, and a computer program which can prevent the situation that a system of a highway is divided when juncture of sub-areas is determined.SOLUTION: A determination unit 34 determines whether adjacent sub-areas on a highway should be joined or not. When determination of juncture between adjacent sub-areas on the highway is terminated, the determination unit 34 determines whether adjacent sub-areas on a non-highway should be joined or not. That is, juncture determination processing is performed for sub-areas on the highway as a first priority condition and is performed for sub-areas on the non-highway as a second priority condition.

Description

  The present invention relates to a combination determination device that determines whether or not adjacent subareas are combined among a plurality of subareas divided to include traffic signal controllers controlled by a common cycle length, and the combination determination The present invention relates to a traffic signal control system including a device and a computer program for realizing the combination determination device.

  In system control of traffic signals, adjacent subareas are combined / divided according to traffic conditions. The sub-areas are classified so as to include one or a plurality of intersections where traffic signal controllers controlled by a common cycle length are installed. Sub-area combination determination is performed by comparing whether or not adjacent sub-areas are combined with a predetermined evaluation value and a preset threshold when the cycle lengths of adjacent sub-areas are different.

  Ideally, the sub-areas to be subjected to the combination determination include a wide range of sub-areas in the entire target area. However, when the number of target sub-areas is increased, the time required for the determination process also increases, which is not practical for application to actual traffic signal control. Therefore, the subarea combination determination must be locally evaluated with the target area limited.

  For example, in order to construct a sub-area accurately, the pulsation (turbulence of traffic flow) in the case where the cycle length is selected from the shortest cycle and at least two adjacent sub-areas are combined or not is selected. A traffic signal control apparatus that controls a traffic signal controller by determining whether or not to combine the at least two subareas based on an evaluation value that takes into account the influence is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). .

Japanese Patent No. 3327243

  However, in the case of the conventional combination determination described in Patent Document 1, the following problems may occur. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional combination determination. FIG. 10A shows the state of the sub-area before performing the combination determination process, and FIG. 10B shows the state of the sub-area after the combination determination process.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, there are subareas x1, x2, and x3 on the main road, and the cycle lengths are 150 seconds, 140 seconds, and 150 seconds, respectively. Further, there are sub-areas x4 and x5 on the non-main road, and the cycle lengths are 120 seconds and 110 seconds, respectively. The cycle length is large on high-traffic arterial roads, and the cycle length of non-trunk roads that have relatively little traffic compared to main roads tends to be small. In the conventional combination determination, since combination determination is performed in order from the shortest cycle length, the boundary (1) between the subareas x4 and x5, the boundary (2) between the subareas x4 and x2 shown in FIG. The combination determination is performed in the order of the boundaries (3) between the areas x1 and x2 and the subareas x2 and x3. In other words, the connection determination is performed preferentially from non-main roads other than the main road.

  Since the combination determination is performed preferentially from the non-main road, as shown in FIG. 10B, it is determined that the subareas x4 and x5 and the subareas x2 and x4 are combined, and the cycle length of the combined subareas Becomes longer. As the cycle length increases, the evaluation value used for the joint determination increases, so the evaluation value of the non-main road increases. That is, the weight of the non-main road becomes large. In this application, the smaller the evaluation value, the better the traffic situation, and the evaluation value is related to smoothness such as the delay time at the intersection, stop time, etc. You may add things related to the environment such as the mixing ratio of large vehicles and carbon dioxide emissions. For this reason, a situation occurs in which the sub-areas x1 and x2 and the sub-areas x2 and x3 on the main road are determined to be uncoupled. This constitutes a sub-area that divides the main road system that should be prioritized.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a coupling determination device capable of preventing a situation in which a system of a highway is divided when a subarea coupling determination is performed, and a traffic including the coupling determination device It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer program for realizing a signal control system and the coupling determination device.

  The coupling determination apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is an adjacent subarea among a plurality of subareas divided so as to include a traffic signal controller controlled with a common cycle length, and is controlled with a different cycle length. In a combination determination apparatus for determining whether or not to combine subareas including a traffic signal controller, first determination means for determining whether or not adjacent subareas on a main road are combined, and the first determination And second determination means for determining whether or not to combine adjacent subareas on the non-main road when the determination is completed by the means.

  When the determination by the first determination means and the second determination means is completed in the first invention, the joint determination device according to the second invention is configured to subdivide the subarea on the main road and the subarea on the non-main road. A third determining means for determining whether or not to combine is provided.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coupling determination apparatus according to the first or second aspect, further comprising an extraction unit that extracts a cycle length difference between adjacent subareas, wherein the first determination unit and the second determination unit include It is characterized in that it is configured to determine whether or not adjacent sub-areas are combined in order of increasing cycle length extracted by the extracting means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the combined determination apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the evaluation value A when the adjacent subareas are controlled by the respective cycle lengths and the adjacent subareas are cycled. The evaluation value calculating means for calculating the evaluation value B when the longer control is performed is provided, and the first determination means and the second determination means are the evaluation value A and the evaluation value calculated by the evaluation value calculation means. Based on the magnitude of B, it is configured to determine whether or not to combine the adjacent subareas.

  A traffic signal control system according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a coupling determination apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, and a signal control apparatus for controlling a traffic signal controller based on a determination result by the combination determination apparatus. It is characterized by providing.

  A computer program according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is a computer program controlled by different cycle lengths in adjacent subareas among a plurality of subareas divided into a computer to include a traffic signal controller controlled by a common cycle length. In a computer program for executing a step of determining whether or not to combine subareas including a traffic signal controller to be used, it is determined whether or not a boundary between adjacent subareas on a main road is combined with the computer And a step of determining whether or not to combine boundaries of adjacent subareas on the non-main road when the determination is completed in the determining step.

  In the first invention and the sixth invention, it is determined whether or not adjacent subareas on the main road are to be combined. When the determination is completed, whether or not adjacent subareas on the non-main road are to be combined. Determine whether. That is, the combination determination process is performed on the subarea on the main road as the first priority condition, and is performed on the subarea on the non-main road as the second priority condition. Here, the main road means a road having a larger traffic volume than a road intersecting with an important route connecting major points such as a national road and a prefectural road. A non-main road means a road other than the main road. As a result, since the combination determination is performed with priority on the main road, a situation in which the system of the main road is divided can be prevented.

  In the second invention, whether or not to combine the subarea on the main road and the subarea on the non-main road when the combination determination of the adjacent sub-areas on the main road and the non-main road is completed. Determine. In other words, by combining the subarea on the main road and the subarea on the non-main road last (lowest priority), the determination on the main road alone and the non-main road only is given priority. To be done. Thereby, the division | segmentation of the system of the main road which may arise as a result of having changed cycle length by the subarea joint determination in a non-main road can be prevented.

  In the third aspect of the invention, when it is determined to combine adjacent subareas on the main road and the non-main road, it is determined whether or not adjacent subareas are combined in order from the smallest cycle length difference. Thereby, the change of cycle length can be suppressed small, it can suppress that the evaluation value and weight of a combined subarea become large, and can prevent the situation where the system of a highway is divided more effectively. .

  In the fourth aspect of the invention, the evaluation value A when the adjacent subareas are system-controlled with the respective cycle lengths is calculated. Also, an evaluation value B is calculated when the adjacent subareas are system-controlled with the longer cycle length. That is, evaluation value A is an evaluation value when subareas are not combined, and evaluation value B is an evaluation value when subareas are combined. When evaluation value A> evaluation value B, it is determined that adjacent subareas are combined. When evaluation value A ≦ evaluation value B, it is determined that adjacent subareas are not combined (the boundary is suspended).

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the apparatus includes a coupling determination device and a signal control device that controls the traffic signal controller based on a determination result by the coupling determination device. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the subarea of the main road from being divided and to control the traffic signal controller.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can suppress that the evaluation value and weight of a combined subarea become large, and can prevent the situation where the system of a trunk road is divided.

It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a structure of the traffic signal control system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the joint determination apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the transition state of the boundary by the joining determination of a subarea. It is explanatory drawing which shows the transition state of the boundary by the joining determination of a subarea. It is explanatory drawing which shows the transition state of the boundary by the joining determination of a subarea. It is explanatory drawing which shows the transition state of the boundary by the joining determination of a subarea. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the determination process of a subarea. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the determination process of a subarea. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of subarea combination determination according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the conventional joint determination.

Embodiment 1
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a combination determination apparatus according to the present invention, a traffic signal control system including the combination determination apparatus, and a computer program for realizing the combination determination apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the traffic signal control system according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the combination determination device 3 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the traffic signal control system includes a signal control device 2 that controls the traffic signal controller 1, a coupling determination device 3, and the like.

  At each point on the road connecting a plurality of intersections, a traffic measurement sensor (not shown) such as a vehicle detector for measuring traffic such as the number of vehicles passing through the point is installed. When the traffic measuring sensor senses the passage of the vehicle, it transmits a sensing signal to the signal control device 2. The signal control device 2 samples the sensing signal from the traffic measurement sensor and collects vehicle detector information such as traffic and occupancy. Thereafter, the signal control device 2 calculates traffic information such as traffic jam length and saturation, calculates signal control parameters such as cycle length, split, and offset based on the traffic information, and combines the calculated control parameters with a joint determination device. 3 to send.

  The cycle length refers to the time that the signal display makes a round. Split refers to the time allocation allocated to each display in the time of one cycle. The offset refers to the time difference between the green light start times of adjacent intersections so that vehicles traveling on the road can pass through each intersection without stopping at the signal.

  Note that the sensing signal from the traffic volume measurement sensor is transmitted not to the signal control device 2 but to a monitoring device (not shown) installed in a control center or the like, and the signal control parameter is calculated by the monitoring device, and the calculated signal control is performed. The parameter can also be transmitted to the signal control device 2 and the combination determination device 3.

  The coupling determination device 3 is a traffic signal control that is controlled by different cycle lengths in adjacent subareas among a plurality of subareas divided to include the traffic signal controller 1 controlled by a common cycle length. It is determined whether or not the sub-area including the machine 1 is to be combined. Here, combining adjacent subareas means integrating or grouping adjacent subareas as one subarea. One subarea includes the traffic signal controller 1 controlled with a common cycle length, and includes one or a plurality of intersections. The combination determination device 3 transmits to the signal control device 2 information indicating the determination result, that is, which subarea is combined or not combined (subarea boundaries are reserved). In the example of FIG. 1, one signal control device 2 is illustrated, but the number is not limited to one, and the number of signal control devices according to the size of the target area of the joint determination. Can be provided. Details of the combination determination process will be described later.

  The signal control device 2 issues a control command to each traffic signal controller 1 based on the determination result by the coupling determination device 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the combination determination apparatus 3 includes a control unit 31 that controls the entire apparatus, a cycle length difference extraction unit 32, a cycle length extraction unit 33, a determination unit 34, a storage unit 35 that stores necessary information, and a signal. An interface unit 36 having a function of transmitting and receiving information between the control device 2 and the traffic volume measurement sensor is provided.

  The signal control device 2 calculates the cycle length C of the subarea and transmits it to the combination determination device 3. The cycle length C can be obtained by, for example, C = 2 × L / {1− (ρ1 + ρ2)}. Here, ρ1 and ρ2 are the main direction of the intersection and the saturation of each display on the intersection side. The saturation is the maximum value among the values obtained by dividing the traffic volume flowing into the intersection by the saturation traffic rate. If the saturation at the intersection exceeds 1, the traffic cannot be made. L is a loss time, which is the total time of the yellow signal and the all red signal. Note that the formula for calculating the cycle length is an example, and is not limited to the above formula. Note that the cycle length may be calculated by the combination determination device 3.

  The sub-areas may be provided for each intersection, or intersections having the same cycle length and adjacent to each other may be combined into one sub-area.

  The cycle length difference extraction unit 32 has a function as an extraction unit or a first extraction unit that extracts a cycle length difference between adjacent sub-areas.

  The cycle length extraction unit 33 functions as a second extraction unit that extracts the cycle lengths of adjacent subareas.

  The determination unit 34 has a function as a determination unit that determines whether or not adjacent subareas are combined in order of increasing cycle length difference extracted by the cycle length difference extraction unit 32. Further, when the cycle length difference extraction unit 32 extracts a plurality of the same cycle length differences, the determination unit 34 determines whether or not adjacent subareas are combined in order of the cycle length extracted by the cycle length extraction unit 33. To do.

  The following method can be used to determine whether or not to combine sub-areas. That is, the evaluation value A when the adjacent subareas are system-controlled with the respective cycle lengths is calculated. Also, an evaluation value B is calculated when the adjacent subareas are system-controlled with the longer cycle length. That is, evaluation value A is an evaluation value when subareas are not combined, and evaluation value B is an evaluation value when subareas are combined. When evaluation value A> evaluation value B, it is determined that adjacent subareas are combined. When evaluation value A ≦ evaluation value B, it is determined that adjacent subareas are not combined (the boundary is suspended).

  The evaluation formula for calculating the evaluation values A and B can be obtained by, for example, the evaluation value PI = D + (25/3600) × S. That is, the evaluation value PI when the subareas are not combined is the evaluation value A, and the evaluation value PI when the subareas are combined is the evaluation value B. Here, D is a delay time (base / hour / hour), which is a so-called signal waiting time. For example, the delay time D increases as the cycle length increases, the evaluation value PI increases, and the index deteriorates. A smaller evaluation value PI indicates a better state. Also, if the cycle length becomes smaller than necessary, the vehicle at the intersection cannot be run (passed), and the delay time becomes longer. S is the number of stops (units / hour). When the cycle length is different between adjacent subareas, the number of stops S increases pulsation, which is a disturbance of traffic flow. As can be seen from the above equation, when the cycle lengths are different, the number of stops S increases, the evaluation value PI increases, and the index deteriorates. Note that the evaluation formula is not limited to the above example. In this application, the smaller the evaluation value, the better the traffic situation, and the evaluation value is related to smoothness such as the delay time at the intersection, stop time, etc. You may add things related to the environment such as the mixing ratio of large vehicles and carbon dioxide emissions.

  In the above-described combination determination process, for example, using a simulator that generates traffic flow in a simulated manner according to preset conditions, the simulator is operated for each pattern of signal control parameter combinations, and an evaluation value is calculated for each pattern. To do. In this case, the range in which the evaluation value is calculated by operating the simulator is intended only for the intersection included in the sub-area for determining whether or not to combine.

  As described above, the combination determination device 3 extracts the cycle length difference between adjacent subareas, and determines whether or not adjacent subareas are combined in order of the extracted cycle length difference. Since it is determined whether or not adjacent subareas are combined in order of small cycle length difference, even if it is determined to be combined, even if one cycle length of the combined subarea changes, the change in cycle length Can be kept small. Thereby, it can suppress that the evaluation value and weight of a combined subarea become large, and can prevent the situation where the system of a trunk road is divided.

  Further, when a plurality of the same cycle length differences are extracted, the combination determination device 3 determines whether or not adjacent subareas are combined in order of increasing cycle length. That is, when determining the connection of adjacent subareas, the connection determination is performed in the order of small cycle length differences as the first priority condition. If there are a plurality of boundaries with the same cycle length difference, as a second priority condition, the combination determination is performed in the order of the cycle lengths among the boundaries with the same cycle length difference. As a result, if there are multiple boundaries with the same cycle length difference, the combination determination is performed in order from the longer cycle length, so the main road can be changed while suppressing changes in the cycle length due to the combination of subareas. Since the combination determination is performed with priority, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the main road system is divided.

  If the determination unit 34 determines not to combine adjacent subareas, the determination unit 34 has a function as a hold determination unit that determines that the boundary between the adjacent subareas is hold. In addition, when the adjacent subareas are combined, the determination unit 34 serves as an unevaluated determination unit that determines that the boundary is not evaluated when the boundary of the subarea whose cycle length has changed is on hold. It also has a function.

  In the determination process by the determination unit 34, the boundary of adjacent subareas is determined to be combined (when determined to be combined), suspended (when determined not to be combined, i.e., not combined), and unevaluated (the determination process is completed). It is divided into three states. The term “pending” means that the boundary is determined to be non-coupled, and the boundary is excluded from the combination determination process. Further, “not evaluated” means that the boundary is a target of the joint determination process. When the boundary of the sub-area is unevaluated, the determination unit 34 selects a sub-area adjacent to the unevaluated boundary as an extraction target. The determination unit 34 ends the combination determination process when all the subareas to be combined are combined or the boundary of the subareas is suspended.

  As described above, even if the boundary is once determined to be pending, if the cycle length changes as a result of the subsequent combination determination process, the subarea is again subjected to the combination determination process. As a result, even if a sub-area has been determined to be non-joined, if the cycle length changes, it can be a target of re-join judgment. It can be prevented from being left as it is, and the divided sub areas can be reduced.

  Next, an example of the combination determination of adjacent subareas will be described. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are explanatory diagrams showing boundary transition states based on subarea combination determination. First, as shown in FIG. 3, as a result of calculating the cycle length of the determination-target subarea, it is assumed that subareas a1 to a11 are sub-areas to be combined. The cycle lengths of the sub-areas are 150 seconds, 140 seconds, 120 seconds, 110 seconds, 150 seconds, 120 seconds, 120 seconds, 130 seconds, 120 seconds, 110 seconds, and 90 seconds, respectively, from the sub-areas a1 to a11. Suppose that

  The cycle length difference at the boundary between adjacent subareas is the smallest at the boundary between subareas a1 and a2, the boundary between subareas a8 and a9, and the boundary between subareas a3 and a4. Since a plurality of the same cycle length differences are extracted, the order of determination processing is given in the order of longer cycle length. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the join determination process is performed in the order of the boundary (1) between the subareas a1 and a2, the boundary (2) between the subareas a8 and a9, and the boundary (3) between the subareas a3 and a4.

  As a result of the combination determination using the evaluation values described above, as shown in FIG. 4, the boundary between the subareas a1 and a2 is confirmed, the boundary between the subareas a8 and a9 is reserved, and the boundary between the subareas a3 and a4 Suppose that it is determined that the connection is confirmed. By determining the coupling, the cycle length of the subarea a2 changes to 150 seconds, which is the same cycle length as the subarea a1. In addition, the cycle length of the sub-area a4 changes to 120 seconds, which is the same cycle length as that of the sub-area a3.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the adjacent subareas a1 and a8 are combined and the boundary between the adjacent subareas a1 and a8 is determined to be combined. At this time, the cycle length of the sub-area a8 changes from 130 seconds to 150 seconds. Then, since the boundary of the sub-area a8 whose cycle length has changed has already been determined to be on hold, the boundary is determined to be unevaluated from the hold. As a result, the boundary between the sub-areas a8 and a9 is again subjected to the combination determination.

  The example of FIG. 6 shows an example of the boundary state of the sub-area when the combination determination is finally finished. In the example of FIG. 6, if the subareas a1, a2,... And the subareas a9, a10,... Are subareas on the main road, the subareas a1 and a2 are not divided. Moreover, since the subareas a9 and a10 are not divided, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the main road system is divided.

  As described above, once the subarea combination determination is performed, the signal control device 2 controls the traffic signal controller 1 in the subarea in this state. Then, when a predetermined time (for example, 15 minutes) that is the cycle of the coupling determination process has elapsed, the cycle length of each subarea is calculated again according to the traffic situation, and the subarea is again calculated based on the calculated cycle length. Repeat the join determination.

  Next, the operation of the combination determination device 3 will be described. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the procedure of subarea determination processing. The control unit 31 determines whether or not it is the cycle of the coupling determination process (S11), and when it is not the cycle of the coupling determination process (NO in S11), the process of step S11 is continued.

  When it is the cycle of the coupling determination process (YES in S11), the control unit 31 calculates the cycle length according to the traffic situation (S12). The control unit 31 assigns the order of determination processing in the order of the first priority condition (small cycle length difference) and the second priority condition (long cycle length) to the boundary of the determination target or unevaluated subarea (S13).

  The control unit 31 selects adjacent subareas according to the above-described order (S14), and the evaluation value A when the adjacent subareas are system-controlled with the respective cycle lengths (that is, when adjacent subareas are not combined). Is calculated (S15). The control unit 31 calculates an evaluation value B when the adjacent subareas are system-controlled with the longer cycle length (that is, when adjacent subareas are combined) (S16).

  The control unit 31 determines whether or not the evaluation value A is larger than the evaluation value B (S17). If the evaluation value A is larger than the evaluation value B (YES in S17), the two subareas are combined to form a subarea. Is determined to be joined (S18). When the evaluation value A is not larger than the evaluation value B (NO in S17), the control unit 31 puts the boundary between the two subareas on hold (S19), and continues the processing after step S14.

  The control unit 31 determines whether or not there is a reserved boundary among the subarea boundaries whose cycle length has changed due to the combination of the subareas (S20), and when there is no reserved boundary (NO in S20), all It is determined whether or not the boundary of the sub-areas is fixed or pending (S21). If there is a pending boundary (YES in S20), the control unit 31 determines that the suspended subarea boundary is not evaluated (S22), and continues the processing from step S13 onward.

  If the boundaries of all the sub-areas are not fixed or pending (NO in S21), the control unit 31 continues the process from step S14. If the boundaries of all subareas are fixed or suspended (YES in S21), the control unit 31 determines whether or not the process is finished (S23), and if not finished (NO in S23), step If the process after S11 is continued and the process is finished (YES in S23), the process is terminated.

  The above-described combination determination apparatus 3 can also be realized using a general-purpose computer including a CPU, a RAM, and the like. That is, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a program code that defines each processing procedure is loaded into a RAM provided in the computer, and the program code is executed by the CPU, thereby realizing a coupling determination device on the computer. be able to.

  More specifically, it is possible to cause the computer to extract the cycle length difference between adjacent subareas and to determine whether or not adjacent subareas are to be combined in order of the extracted cycle length difference.

Embodiment 2
In the first embodiment described above, the determination of the combination of adjacent subareas has nothing to do with whether each subarea is on a main road or a non-main road. In the following, a case will be described in which the joint determination is performed by paying attention to whether the sub-area is on a main road or a non-main road. In the second embodiment, the configuration of the combination determination device 3 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the processing in the determination unit 34 is different.

  The determination unit 34 has a function as a first determination unit that determines whether or not adjacent subareas on the main road are to be combined. Moreover, the determination part 34 also has a function as a 2nd determination means which determines whether the adjacent subarea on a non-main road is combined, when the determination of the adjacent subarea on a main road is complete | finished. .

  That is, the combination determination process is performed on the subarea on the main road as the first priority condition, and is performed on the subarea on the non-main road as the second priority condition. Here, the main road means a road having a larger traffic volume than a road intersecting with an important route connecting major points such as a national road and a prefectural road. A non-main road means a road other than the main road. As a result, since the combination determination is performed with priority on the main road, a situation in which the system of the main road is divided can be prevented.

  Further, the determination unit 34 determines whether or not to combine the subarea on the main road and the subarea on the non-main road when the determination of the adjacent subareas on the main road and the non-main road is completed. It has a function as a 3rd determination means. That is, the determination unit 34 determines the connection of the subarea on the main road and the subarea on the non-main road last (lowest priority). In other words, the combination determination on the main road alone and the combination determination on the non-main road alone are preferentially performed. Thereby, the division | segmentation of the system of the main road which may arise as a result of having changed cycle length by the subarea joint determination in a non-main road can be prevented. In addition, a part of the sub-area on the non-main road can be combined with the main road to prevent the system of the non-main road from being divided. If the evaluation value is improved, the main road and the non-main road may eventually be combined. However, in this embodiment, the difference in cycle length is particularly small between adjacent subareas. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the system from being divided on the main road or from being divided on the non-main road.

  The determination unit 34 determines whether to combine adjacent subareas in ascending order of the cycle length difference when determining the combination of adjacent subareas on the main road and the non-main road. Thereby, the change of cycle length can be suppressed small, it can suppress that the evaluation value and weight of a combined subarea become large, and can prevent the situation where the system of a highway is divided more effectively. . That is, it is possible to more effectively prevent a situation where the system of the same route such as XX highway and XX street is divided. In addition, a part of the sub-area on the non-main road can be combined with the main road to prevent the system of the non-main road from being divided.

  When it is determined whether or not adjacent subareas on the main road are to be combined, the processing procedure illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 can be used. Further, when it is determined whether or not adjacent subareas on a non-main road are to be combined, the processing procedure illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 can be used. Furthermore, when determining whether or not to combine a subarea on a main road and a subarea on a non-main road, the processing procedure illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 can be used.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of subarea combination determination according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 9, the subareas on the main road are b1, b2, b3, and b4. In addition, the subareas on the non-main road are b5, b6, and b7. Since the sub-area b2 is an area where the main road and the non-main road intersect, it is on the main road for convenience.

  First, for subareas on the main road, it is determined whether or not adjacent subareas are to be combined. In this case, if the cycle length difference is determined in ascending order, as shown in FIG. 9, the boundary (1) between subareas b2 and b3, then the boundary (2) between subareas b1 and b2, and then subareas b3 and b4 Are determined in the order of the boundary (3).

  After the combination determination for the subarea on the main road is completed, it is determined whether or not adjacent subareas are to be combined for the subarea on the non-main road. In this case, the boundary (4) between the sub-areas b6 and b7 is the next target for combination determination.

  Finally, it is determined whether or not to combine the subarea on the main road and the subarea on the non-main road. In this case, if the determination is made in order from the smallest cycle length difference, the connection determination is performed in the order of the boundary between the subareas b2 and b6 and the boundary between the subareas b2 and b5.

  The above-described combination determination apparatus 3 according to the second embodiment can also be realized using a general-purpose computer including a CPU, a RAM, and the like. That is, a program code that defines the processing procedure as shown in the above-described example of FIG. 9 is loaded into a RAM provided in the computer, and the program code is executed by the CPU, thereby realizing the coupling determination device on the computer. be able to.

  In addition, when performing the joint judgment of adjacent subareas on main roads and non-main roads, and the joint judgment of subareas on main roads and subareas on non-main roads, they are combined in the order of small cycle length differences. Instead of the determination method, the order may be appropriately determined in advance, or the joint determination may be performed in the order of intersections.

  The signal control device 2 controls the traffic signal controller 1 based on the determination result by the coupling determination device 3, thereby preventing the subarea of the main road from being divided and controlling the traffic signal controller 1. It can be carried out.

  In the above-described embodiment, the signal control device 2 and the coupling determination device 3 are configured as separate devices. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the signal control device 2 has the function of the coupling determination device 3. It may be a configuration.

  The disclosed embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Traffic signal controller 2 Signal control apparatus 3 Coupling determination apparatus 31 Control part 32 Cycle length difference extraction part 33 Cycle length extraction part 34 Determination part 35 Storage part 36 Interface part

Claims (6)

Combining sub-areas that include traffic signal controllers controlled by different cycle lengths among multiple sub-areas divided to include traffic signal controllers controlled by a common cycle length In the joint determination device for determining whether to
First determination means for determining whether or not to combine adjacent subareas on the main road;
And a second determination unit that determines whether or not adjacent sub-areas on the non-main road are to be combined when the first determination unit finishes the determination.   Third determination means for determining whether or not to combine the subarea on the main road and the subarea on the non-main road when the determination by the first determination means and the second determination means is completed. The combination determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: An extraction means for extracting a difference in cycle length between adjacent subareas;
The first determination means and the second determination means are:
3. The combination determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the combination determination apparatus is configured to determine whether or not adjacent subareas are combined in order of increasing cycle length extracted by the extraction unit. An evaluation value calculation means for calculating an evaluation value A when the adjacent subarea is controlled with each cycle length, and an evaluation value B when the adjacent subarea is controlled with the longer cycle length,
The first determination means and the second determination means are:
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein whether or not the adjacent subareas are to be combined is determined based on a magnitude of the evaluation value A and the evaluation value B calculated by the evaluation value calculation unit. The combination determination apparatus according to claim 3.   A traffic signal comprising: the coupling determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 4; and a signal control device that controls a traffic signal controller based on a determination result by the coupling determination device. Control system. The sub-area including a traffic signal controller controlled by a different cycle length in an adjacent sub-area among a plurality of sub-areas divided to include a traffic signal controller controlled by a common cycle length in the computer In a computer program for executing a step of determining whether or not to combine areas,
Determining whether to combine the boundaries of adjacent subareas on the main road with the computer;
And a step of determining whether or not to join boundaries of adjacent subareas on a non-main road when the determination is completed in the determination step.

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